In the article Assessing perceptions of the environment in elementary classrooms: the link with achievement  researcher Michelle LaRocque studies the perceptions students have towards the environment of their classrooms, and links those perceptions to possible effects on math and reading achievement levels. Participants in the study were elementary aged students attending school in a large urban school district. In order to gauge student achievement LaRocque pulled from the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). Student perception was ranked based off of scores provided by students through My Classroom Inventory (MCI).

LaRocque states the purpose of her study was to, “examines students’ perceptions of their classroom environment as well as whether their perceptions impacted their achievement in math and reading” (LaRocque 2008, 291). For the purpose of her study the researcher asked the following questions: Is there a significant difference in perceptions of the environment based on the gender of the student? Is there a significant difference in perceptions of the environment based on the grade level of the student? Is the gender difference in perceptions of the environment, if it exists, influenced by the grade level of the student? Are perceptions of the environment related to achievement in math and reading?

In order to answer these questions students were asked to complete when the MCI individually. In order to answer the first three research questions a MNOVA was conducted. Follow up ANOVAs were completed when the MNOVA showed to be statistically significant. LaRocque used gender, and grade level as independent variables, and student perceptions on the MCI as dependent variables. When the data was completed it was analyzed for normality using methods of skewness, and kurtosis.

The research conducted was clearly laid out, easy to read, and understand. I enjoyed how the researcher made clear of certain terms, especially in the methods, and procedures section.